Birdsong 4

Wow - it's been a while, hasn't it?  Let me get right to it then.  :)

A couple weeks ago, I traveled with my friend Terri up to Lawrence, Kansas for Birdsong 4 at Karla Nathan's home.  I've been every year since the first one and it's always a great weekend. Terri and I travel well together and it's always nice to hang out with her.

Karla recently had a new patio installed and everything was looking great for us.

Lots of plants, flowers and fresh herbs that Karla uses in her cooking.  Karla is a fantastic cook - everything is healthy and delicious and prepared with lots of love.

 How cute is this?  It's always fun to just take some time to look around.  Karla is always moving things around so we have new vignettes to look at and enjoy.

 Most of us traveled up a day early to shop at West Bottoms which is a warehouse area with lots of antique shops.  It's only open one weekend a month so this is where we got the weekend started. Here's Terry and Laurie:

It was a long hot day of shopping and walking and we were pretty exhausted at the end of the day.  But the fun didn't stop there - Karla's friend Angie invited us all to her shop for a lovely party.  Beth set up a make n take in the back room so we got to eat, shop, create, and socialize. Fun, fun, fun!

If you are a usual reader of my blog, you know that I love swaps!  This spring was so busy for me that I didn't have a chance to sign up for any this time.  I knew that I would be sorry when the time came for the swaps, but I didn't want to commit and then not be able to do my best work, or have to rush and stress out.  This years swaps were a banner swap, an altered bottle swap, and an altoid tin swap.  They did not disappoint!  The talent in this group is amazing. 

Here is Linda with her bottle swap.  She is always so colorful and happy.  :)

Here are Suzanne and Tami showing off one of the beautiful banner creations.

 Hope, Karla and Randy:

This is an altoid tin that was decorated by Terry Frias for Pam.  I want it!

My crafty tablemates seated clockwise from the left are Terri, Laurie, Tammy, and Terry. Laurie is a four timer to Birdsong - just like me.  It was Terry's first time, but I bet it won't be her last!

Just down the table is Hope and Linda.

It's so fun to see old friends every year and of course, to meet a few new ones too.

Rhonda, Linda, Gail and Nora checking out one of the swaps.

In the next post, I'll share pictures of our projects.  :)

Bobbie's Vintage Bunny Class

The Saturday before Easter, Bobbie taught this Vintage Bunny Class at Paper Crown.  Isn't she the cutest?

Just check out this adorable class kit!  

 And of course, this sweet little name tag!    I save them all and have them on a bulletin board in my craft room.  Maybe I'll do a blog post on that.  Hmmm....

Glittered Retreat

Oh my gosh ~ I can't believe I have neglected my blog this long.  I've been thinking about blogging but just haven't had a block of time to do it.  So sorry!  

Well anyway.  This post will be loaded with pictures so hopefully you enjoy!

Earlier in the month my favorite store in Oklahoma City, Paper Crown, hosted an amazing Glittered Retreat.  You know I love a good retreat and I knew this wasn't to be missed.  I signed up long before the projects were announced because at Paper Crown, there is NEVER a class I want to miss.

For the first Glittered Retreat all the teachers were our local favorites.  We have incredible talent right here in Oklahoma and to get to take a class with each of these ladies in one weekend was a real treat!  The weekend lineup included Jackie Peters, Medeah, Holly Abston, and Bobbie Sanders.  I've added links to their blogs and definitely check them out!

Below are the pictures of the projects scheduled for the weekend.  (note: I didn't take the project pictures, I got them from the Paper Crown blog)

Jackie's Project:

The class kit's for Jackie's class.  I know - it's okay to be jealous.  ;)

                                         

 Bobbie's Project:

And Bobbie always outdoes herself:  (the outside)

 The inside of Bobbie's kit.  We had a little laugh because Bobbie said she created the inside of the kits with me in mind.  She wrapped all the individual trims on a card because somehow when I'm in a class with Bobbie my embellishments end up everywhere but my work space!  This way, I can keep track of everything.  ;)

                                          

 Holly's Project:

I didn't get a picture of Holly's kits but we were able to select our favorite vintage wallpaper and seam binding from her amazing stash!  :)

 Medeah's Project:

Medeah's kit.  We were lucky because she prepared the boards for us ahead of time to speed things along.  

Bobbie made these fabulous programs for our weekend.  Every little detail was taken into consideration to make this such a fun time for all of us.

While we each were to make our own name tags for a contest, this sweet little name tag and pencil awaited me prior to Jackie's class.

 And OH YES! Don't we all love a sweet swag bag filled with lovely treats???

The ladies worked for WEEKS transforming the upstairs room into this fun and beautiful space for our meals.  Each time we entered this room, the decor and tablescapes were different and new.  

 See ~ I told you!  Such attention to detail.

 Just lovely.  And although I didn't get pictures of the food, it was amazing too.  Everything lovingly prepared and served.  The Paper Crown ladies know how to spoil us!

How sweet.

 These ladies worked their tail feathers off  for us.  I don't think words can convey the appreciation I know we all had for all the hard work, attention to detail, and creation of such a special weekend we all had.

On Friday afternoon, we took a shopping field trip to The Rink which is an antique mall.  When we were finished shopping we were surprised with all this goodness waiting for us at the front of the mall.  Inside the pink box was a delicious cupcake.  A nice drink of water in adorably decorated bottles and a copy of a favorite magazine. What more could we ask for???

I'm sure I've forgotten to mention some of the details but go on over to the other blogs with links and I'm sure you'll see plenty more!  

St. Patty's Swap

When Vivian announced a Secret Leprechaun swap I knew I had to be in, so I signed up first thing.  Then, I began to panic because I don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day and I certainly don't have any decorations for it.

Once I settled down and started thinking about what I would make for this swap, I really had fun.  The person I'm sending this to doesn't know yet that I'm her Secret Leprechaun.  Here is a tag I made to send along with a couple goodies.

This little hanging ornament  turned out kind of sweet.  It measures approximately 5x7 and is a burlap "pillow" with a decoupaged sheet of music, an Irish girl, and some other embellishments on the front.

I'm happy with the way this banner turned out, and I hope I have time to make myself one just like it.  It was hard to photograph so in the picture below, I took a closeup of the letter L.

My Secret Leprechaun was Kim K.  Kim and I had swapped Valentine's a year or so ago.  She's a speedy Leprechaun and my package of St. Patty's goodness arrived over the weekend.  It was all so festively wrapped which is part of the fun!

This frame with the 3d Leprechaun is just the sweetest thing!  What a great idea.

She also made this cute Leprechaun in a cloche.  Don't you just love this?

Kim also included a fun shamrock necklace, some St. Patty's napkins and some gold coins.  Thanks Kim!  And thanks to Viv for hosting this fun little swap.  :)

Spring Soiree

Bobbie hosted another fabulous Soiree at The Paper Crown this weekend.  I always feel like an excited  little kid again when I arrive to see the fun decorations she has taken so much time to prepare for our class. 

Cupcakes, candy, cake.  Oh yes - please!

 Of course, don't forget the name tags.  I have quite the collection now and they always make me smile.

This was the main project.  I signed up for the Soiree before I even knew what the project would be.  I knew there was no way to be disappointed and true to form, Bobbie outdid herself.  

Of course, as if the above project wasn't quite enough, we made these sweet "party favors".  Just precious!

It was a great day to celebrate Shelley's 40th birthday.  This was Shelley's third party and she had one more to go that night.  

As always, it was nice to hang out and visit with Nan.  I'm so lucky for my sweet, creative friends.  :)

To see even more pics, click here to go directly to Bobbie's post.

3 Inchey Swap

My friend Laurie came up with this great swap. Laurie and I know each other from several creative workshops we have attended, and I knew some of our mutual friends would be participating too!

For this particular swap, we were to make six three-inch by three-inch fabric blocks.

Here was my creation - which was sort of similar to the larger heart I made for Jennifer's swap, but shrunk down and placed on a fabric background for the 3 inch by 3 inch requirement:

Our talented friend Hope Ellington came up with this amazing block with a frozen charlotte enclosed in a dimensional heart.  She also included an extra little surprise in with her swap - a lovely heart necklace that says, "Be True".  She amazes me.

Just look at this block that was made by our friend Tammy. She managed to perfectly squeeze all that detail onto her block.  So pretty! I absolutely love the pinks.

When I took this colorful block out of the package, I knew who made this without even having to look.  :)  Our sweet friend Linda - this is SO her - and I just love it.  It makes me smile.

This pretty block was made by Lisa.  I haven't met her in person yet, but what a lovely piece of art she created, and I'm thrilled to add it to my collection.

Laurie made this precious block, and this one is so her, too!  I love the vintage fabric, lace, embroidery, and of course, a button.

 Jeanelle embellished this block so sweetly - with the key, beads, buttons, vintage lace and wool.  Just beautiful!